With the myriad of domestic challenges facing the profession at the moment – from economic downturn to the potential impact of the legal aid reforms and the regulatory challenges flowing from the Legal Services Act, it is good to see that the Law Society has not closed its eyes to global issues.The Society’s International Human Rights (IHR) Committee last week called on the US and the Iraqi government to intervene to protect Iranian refugees living in Iraq. The plea followed a reported attack by Iraqi forces on Camp Ashraf, which is home to 3,500 Iranian refugees.

The attack reportedly left 13 people dead and more than 400 injured. Until January 2009, the security of the camp and the safety of its residents were guaranteed by coalition forces in Iraq. Those duties were transferred to Iraqi forces following assurances given by the Iraqi authorities that the refugees would be treated humanly and their rights under international law respected.

The residents of the camp are ‘protected persons’ under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which gives them the right not to be forcibly displaced, deported, expelled or repatriated in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.

Malcolm Fowler, an IHR committee member, said: ‘We are calling on Iraqi forces to immediately cease the use of all violence against the residents of the camp. These forces must also allow the International Committee of the Red Cross, relevant United Nations bodies, lawyers and the press into Camp Ashraf.’

Amnesty International claims to have seen video footage of Iraqi forces beating people and firing on them.

Cynics may say that the committee’s criticism is unlikely to have any impact on what the Americans or the Iraqis do, so what is the point. Indeed, some years ago there was a move to disband the IHR committee by some who felt Chancery Lane’s function was only to look after the interests of its members.

But surely as we live in a global community, lawyers have a duty to speak out against injustice and to seek to uphold the rule of law across the globe.

To anyone who would seek to deride the committee’s work, I remind them of the words of 18th century Irish statesman and philosopher, Edmund Burke: ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’